Dermal exposure to chemicals in the workplace: just how important is skin absorption?

c Many chemicals can cross the unbroken skin. c Workers exposed to pesticides or solvents can receive most of their body burden via the dermal route. c Uptake is controlled by chemical concentration, area of skin exposed, and duration of exposure. c Skin site, temperature, humidity, and other chemicals can all influence dermal uptake. c Dermal exposure assessment can be done by surrogate skin method removal techniques, visualisation, biomonitoring, or modelling.